


Keith's Advent Countdown to Christmas

by Amorina21



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Christmas, Domestic Fluff, Garrison - Freeform, M/M, New Year's Eve, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Secret Santa, Secret Santa 2016, Sheith Secret Santa 2016, True Love, X-Mas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-13 16:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9131548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amorina21/pseuds/Amorina21
Summary: Keith wants to make his first christmas with Shiro special. He has the perfect plan, has the presents, finds more along the way and doesn't even consider that Shiro might have plans of his own.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [goodnyte](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodnyte/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there goodnyte ^^ Surprise ~~ I'm your secret santa. Hella late and terrible sorry for that.  
> Upon reading your wishlist I was both delighted and anxious. I’ve been meaning to write a Pre-Kerberos Story for a while now and you gave me the perfect opportunity to do just that. But I didn’t have just one idea and it was really hard to focus on a single one. That is why I decided to create small drabbles, combining both the art wishes and the fic wishes. It’ll be like a tiny advent calendar. Only that you get to open all the doors on one day :3 So here’s me hoping that I did your wishes justice and that you’ll enjoy your little (very late) Christmas present.

**Day 1: Thursday**  
Keith woke up, startled, and glanced at the digital clock that hung adjacent to his bed. It showed time, the current date and day. Panic welling up, Keith stared at the digits and letters (currently five-thirty in the morning and the first day of December). What happened to the last 365 days? Why was Christmas suddenly so close? He needed to start thinking what to give Shiro as a present. Scrap that, he knew what to give Shiro. But he needed to prepare without him finding out. That would be much more difficult, given that Shiro was one of the most observant people he's met. Especially when it came to Keith. Shiro knew what every single twitch of the eyebrow meant, what a shift in his body language forebode, knew when the gleam in his eyes meant that he was ready to fight everything and anything said to him, most times he even knew what Keith wanted to say before his lips had even parted.

Not that Keith complained.

He groaned quietly, but stiffened when he suddenly felt a warm hand on his forehead.

"Hey... you okay? Not getting sick or anything, are you?" whispered Shiro's rough voice, laced with sleep and worry.

"I'm fine, just thinking."

"About?"

"How I don't want to get up and leave your side", Keith wittedly replied and snuggled closer to his man in order to demonstrate. He felt the chuckle rumbling in Shiro's chest before his ears picked up the sound.

"We have few more minutes. Then we gotta go prepare, train and have breakfast."

Keith huffed and closed his eyes.

"Same procedure as every day.”

With a smile, Shiro put his arms around his shoulders and held him close. Feeling content, Keith closed his eyes again and dozed off.

The next time he awoke, Shiro was trying to get up as quiet as possible without waking him. When he noticed that he had stirred too much, Shiro sighed and got up normally.

“Time to get up.”

Keith groaned into his pillow, muffling the sound and then got out of bed.

“Why can’t it be the weekend already?” Still complaining, Keith changed into his training outfit and joined Shiro by the door. Shiro was watching him, Keith noted and he didn’t like the scrutinizing look the elder man had.

“Spit it”, he scoffed.

Shiro carded through Keith’s hair. “Are you sure you want to leave it like that and not comb it first?”

Although Keith certainly loved Shiro’s finger in his hair, he didn’t appreciate the way Shiro tried to reprimand him.

“Shiro”, he flatly said. “We’re training. I’ll be sweaty, gross and in need of a shower. Why would I bother to do my hair now? It’s a waste of time.”

At that, Shiro’s lips curved upwards to form that godly grin of his.

“You’re right Keith, I’m sorry. Let’s go.”

Having said that, he let go of Keith’s hair and walked out of the room. Keith was right behind him and together they ventured to the Garrisons training facility. There, they proceeded to do their daily sparring. Keith lost, but at least he got to clap Shiro’s butt twice. They hit the shower afterwards, eager to get the sweat and grime of their skin.

The rest of the day included classes, lunch with Matt and a mass of homework that left Keith with no time to focus on Christmas at all as he later realized when he joined Shiro in his bed to sleep.

  
**Day 2: Friday**  
Shiro had approached Keith after he beat his record. Praising him for his skills, Shiro couldn’t quite let go of Keith after that. He lingered longer than he should have. He came to Keith for stupid reasons and tried to uphold the conversation with terrible small talk. One would have to admit though, that Keith wasn’t very social in the first place and he had probably made it very difficult for Shiro. His replies usually were “huh” “yeah” “sure” “whatever” “right” “okay”.  


In hindsight, it was amazing that Shiro didn’t get sick of him right after the first few days. Remaining patient, knowing that Keith was an orphan, Shiro often approached him as if he was a wild, volatile cat: either careful, with a low voice to calm him before he bristled or by catching him off guard, surprising him and defusing any possible reactions.

Keith came to the Garrison to fly, not to make friends. Fortunately for them, it became increasingly hard to ignore the handsome, black haired male with the undercut who had an award-winning and sometimes shy smile. His snarky sidekick Matt Holt was an addition that Keith only came to appreciate a lot later. Matt usually got them out of trouble when they left the building after curfew to escape with the hoverbike or venture to the nearby city.

  
Keith was currently alone in said city. Shiro was busy so he had taken his chance to prepare for christmas. He had purchased Shiro’s gift, bought wrapping paper and was currently doing his best to pack the present as good as possible while still standing in the shop. Keith needed to pack now because he couldn’t risk Shiro walking in on him while wrapping and discovering what he got. Having never wrapped presents before, the result was a rather poor excuse of a wrapped present. Even the store clerk felt sorry enough to offer to wrap it for him or at least show him how.

Deeply humiliated, Keith swallowed the rising anger and bile while mutely nodding at the offer. Shiro deserved a present that was nicely wrapped. He impatiently watched the clerk wrap the present anew. Since Keith wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, he copied the clerk’s steps and produced a much nicer wrapped present. Keith placed the present in his shopping bag and returned back to the Garrison, feeling very proud of himself. Excitement coursed through his veins when he imagined Shiro unwrapping his presents.

__  
**Day 3: Saturday**  
A knock on the door, followed by the sound of the door sliding open had him starling upright. Shiro stumbled in, sighing tiredly and plopping on Keith’s bed like a dead weight.

“Is Iverson working you hard again?”

Shiro groaned and rolled onto his back, staring up at Keith who was peering down on him.

“Ever since the Garrison announced that they were planning the Kerberos mission and were looking for the right recruits he’s been on my back. The simulations are almost impossible to finish and even Matt is complaining about the data scrambling. At least he got to go home this weekend to meet his family. What about me? I have to stay here to get a weeks’ worth of training on a SATURDAY!”, his boyfriend cutely complained while pouting at the same time.

Keith bent own to give Shiro a peck on the lips, effectively shutting him up.

“You’re finished for today. Let’s do something together like go to the indoors swimming pool in the city. They have warm water. We, especially you, can relax there and take your mind of Kerberos for three hours and focus on me instead”, he teased.

Shiro stared up at Keith, a blush slowly creeping up his cheeks. Keith grinned widely.

“You better keep these dirty thoughts to yourself.”

Spluttering indignantly Shiro stood up.

“I’ll get my trunks and towels. See you in five?”

Nodding, Keith got up and started to grab the stuff while Shiro left to get his.

Both jumped and made a huge wave as they jumped from the ledge and into the water simultaneously. Keith felt Shiro relax instantly. Shiro sighed happily and started swimming on his back, going with the flow of the water and just drifting along. They had the pool almost completely to themselves. Only the kids pool had some toddlers splashing and squealing, their parents mostly on the lounge chairs watching their kids.

“Thanks, I really needed that”, he later admitted when they were eating fries at the pools snack bar.  
Keith smiled. “I know. You’ve been getting paler every day.” “That bad, huh?” “Yup.”

Shiro took Keith’s free hand, rubbing small circles on it with his thumb.

“I’m sorry for worrying you.”

Smiling gently, Keith only nodded in acceptance and then stole the last fry from Shiro.

“Hey!”

  
**Day 4: Sunday**  
They slept in. It was Sunday, one of the rare days where even Keith would allow himself to stay in bed longer than necessary. Both moved from the bed to the couch and sleepily watched some anime on their television. Shiro sometimes gave comments on how they remind him of another character of that game he’d love to play but doesn’t have the console for. Keith pretended to not hear but was in fact listening. They could be hidden hints or future wishes to fulfill.

Casting a side glance at Keith, he smiled when he saw Shiro’s face glow with excitement as he rambled on.

Shiro paused his nerdy logorrhea and squinted at him bevor breaking into a full-blown smile.

“What are you smiling at?”

“Obviously at you my dork.”

Shiro laughed, a small hint of red tinting his cheeks.

  
**Day 5: Monday**  
The alarm clock blared and Keith hit the snooze button. He was already awake. He had a plan today. He just hoped that Shiro was up for it.

During lunch Keith mustered his courage and straight out asked Shiro before the latter had even sat down properly.

“Do you want to go to the Christmas market? They’re holding one this week in the city. It might be fun.”

“Really? Of course I want to go, what are we waiting for?” he exclaimed and was already pushing the blankets aside, grabbing some proper clothes and styling his hair in the bath. Keith got up a bit slower but then followed him into the bathroom and combed his messy hair.

Taking Shiro’s hovercraft they flew to the city and were there within ten minutes. Shiro parked and came back to Keith to grab his hand. Intertwining their fingers, he had a content smile and they walked towards the Christmas market. They smelled it before they actually saw it. The scent of sweet baked goods and spices wafted through the whole city, infecting it with the Christmas spirit.

Shiro was elated and Keith couldn’t take his eyes of him. Shiro was just too beautiful when he was so happy.

A gasp escaped his lips when he was so distracted, that he ran into a small crowd of bustling, loud women, immediately losing sight of Shiro.

“Shiro?”

Keith groaned and started searching for his boyfriend. He was so tall he shouldn’t be hard to find. Easier said than done. While he was looking for Shiro, he passed a small stand that offered stones and gems of all kinds. Walking almost past it, he dug his heels into the ground when he saw a necklace that had a star shaped milky quartz.

Hovering in front of the necklace and imagining Shiro wearing it had him reaching for his wallet and purchasing it in seconds. The shop owner smiled.

“For your girlfriend?”

“Sort of”, he replied and let the man wrap it nicely. Thanking the man, he continued to look for Shiro and found him next to a food stand, stuffing his face with Garrapinyades.

“hey Keith!” he greeted and put one in Keith’s mouth before he could resist. He blinked, confused at the strange taste. “Almonds?”

“Yes! Almonds in a caramelized sugar coating. Doesn’t it taste amazing?”

“You’ll get diabetes if you eat too much of that.”

“nah, I do enough sports to counter that”, Shiro grinned brightly.

Keith laughed, he was right. He did do enough sports. He could think of one that they could practice the second they got back home.

  
**Day 6: Tuesday**  
Keith was watching the other cadets during their simulations and overheard some girls talking about what to gift their boyfriends. If they could, his ears would have easily perked up. Still he concentrated on listening to what they had to say – one never knows, it might be of importance. And Shiro was a sucker for romantic stuff. He read sappy books with sappy love stories and sobbed through every second book. It was almost impossible to watch romances with him. Except when they were so bad that even Shiro didn’t feel anything – and that hardly ever happened.

Unfortunately, Iverson had other plans and sent Keith just in that moment into the simulator. Groaning but still fired up he did his simulation and finished with a new high score.

By the time he got out, the girls had left. Disappointed, Keith returned to Shiro’s room and waited for him to come home from his lessons.

  
**Day 7: Wednesday**

Today was a special day. It was actually a very special day. A bloody good day even. As good as Christmas and birthdays combined. Today Shiro would mentor the class instead of Officer Iverson, even joining the cadets in their simulations, teaching them what he knew.

Keith was excited whenever he got the chance to pilot with Shiro. That was their dream after all. To reach the stars together.

That said, he jumped into the simulator when Shiro called his name and a technician. They both sat on their seats and started the simulation. Sharing one look with one another they took off.

The whole class watched in awe when Shiro and Keith merely belled orders at the technician. They communicated through faint hand and lip movement before successfully finishing the sim that had only been beaten once before. And these two had made it look so easy.

Matt would complain that he missed it during lunch.

  
**Day 8: Thursday**

Yesterday’s ecstasy was gone. Iverson was back and he hated Christmas. So, when one of the students asked him if he could ease off the homework because of the Christmas season, his reaction was to double it.

Keith’s mood was volatile as he worked through the eight-page long assignments due for tomorrow. Shiro decided to leave him alone and go to sleep before him. He smiled when Keith snuck into his bed a few hours later.

  
**Day 9: Friday**

Shivering upon waking up, Keith at first thought he might be coming down with a cold. Then he checked the room temperature and found that it was way too cold. Keith switched the button for his window blinds to go up and stared outside.

Snow.

There was snow.

Outside.

Lots of it.

Actual snow. In the middle of the freaking desert.

Keith scrambled to get his phone and took a quick picture in case nobody believed him later. Not that the picture mattered. His sleep ruffled lover woke up a bit later, and together they admired the sparkling flakes, scattered around their feet as they decided to go for a morning jog instead of the usual sparring. Some of the almost luminous crystals landed on Shiro’s hair and he briefly wondered how Shiro would look with white hair.

The snow was all but forgotten when Iverson announced that the final had been moved forward in order to allow better preparation for the Kerberos mission. Every cadet just stood there, shell shocked. Iverson continued to smugly tell them that they wouldn’t have anything to worry about if they studied daily - as had been advised at the beginning of the year.

“Lucky for you, we’ll cancel classes today so you can prepare yourselves”, Iverson declared, expecting applause. He left the hall when no applause came, frowning furiously the whole time.

After he was gone all hell broke loose. Cadets panicked, yelled in frustration or just stood still. The smarter one were already leaving, making sure to flood the library and exchanging notes.

  
**Day 10: Saturday**

Weekends at the Garrison were usually quiet. Many of the students left to be with their families. Matt usually did too. Keith stayed because he had no family and Shiro stayed too because his family was too far away to visit regularly. This time, most students stayed because of the finals and there was a constant buzz of voices that Keith ignored as much as possible.

-  
Keith and Shiro had been together for around five months now, friendship preceding their romantic relationship. They might still not be together, had it not been for Matt who decided that he couldn’t continue to watch their pining. According to him, it had been painfully obvious. In a way, they were grateful for Matt’s intervention. After getting together, they grew even closer and not just physically. Their bond and mutual trust in one another deepened. It was unconditional. It was the first time that Keith, an orphan who never had much, trusted himself to fall in love.  


They often slept in Shiro’s room, being the Golden boy of the Garrison, he had some privileges that included a larger room and a reluctant acceptance of their relationship. Iverson was still harsh and unforgiving if Keith caused trouble, but no one could deny his skills. Being Shiro’s partner only made it more difficult for the Garrison to reprimand him. They hoped that Shiro would influence some sense into Keith.

Keith still spent a lot of time in his own room, mainly to study or when his boyfriend was busy. Sometimes he was hit by a wave of nostalgia, not quite believing that he was here, that he had Shiro and that he could feel as alive as he did now.

-  
Right now, he was in his room too, studying and mumbling some numbers when a steaming cup of instant noodles was placed in front of him. He looked up and stared into Shiro’s gray eyes.

“Was is this?” he asked and Shiro smiled. “Dinner.”

“Oh. Is it already that late?”

“Yup. Eat while it’s still hot. You need the energy.”

“Thanks.”

  
**Day 11: Sunday**

Keith wanted to something with Shiro that would still enable him to study, at least a little bit. Obviously, Shiro was beyond surprised when Keith suddenly suggested they’d bake Christmas cookies. Keith had even dug up recipes for gingerbread, butter cookies, cinnamon- and sugar stars and LOTS of Christmas carols that could quietly play in the background while Shiro tested his knowledge.

He couldn’t really say no to those beautiful violet eyes. Shiro relented and together they got permission to use the homeroom kitchen to bake cookies.

Shiro tried to remain serious, but failed when Keith powered himself in flour. Keith could see the twinkle in Shiro’s eyes, the amusement and laughter that threatened bubble free.

Grinning wickedly, he charged himself at Shiro who shrieked and tried to scramble to safety – away from the flour covered Keith.

Needless to say, they baked the cookies. The kitchen was a chaos though and took forever to clean up. Christmas carols played softly in the background the whole time.

  
**Day 12-16: Monday till Friday**

The finals were a living hell. Keith would rather scrub a flour filled kitchen for a month than write finals. Shiro was his anchor during this week. He fed him and kept him hydrated while Keith continued to study and curse his life (with the exception of Shiro) in addition to writing his own finals. Shiro was truly amazing.

Despite the short notice, Keith has a feeling that he did well on the exams. The questions were fairly easy compared to the ones he had practiced with.

After the last exam was written Keith all but fell into Shiro’s waiting arms and they snuggled close on Shiro’s bed. Exhaustion took over and both fell into a deep slumber.

  
**Day 17: Saturday**

They started their Saturday by buying a tree. A proper, real needly Christmas tree. And they purchased tree decorations too. Much to Shiro’s amusement, Keith found his Christmas carols playlist again. Setting everything up, they started to decorate the tree in Shiro’s room while humming to the tune of the carols.

They later huddled underneath blankets on the couch, both grasping cups of hot chocolate and watching Pokémon ™.

It was peaceful. Domestic even.

  
**Day 18: Sunday**

The cup crashed onto the floor, shattering into hundreds of pieces as if to demonstrate the state of Keith’s heart.

“What do you mean you won’t be here for Christmas?!” he yelled at Shiro, his face flushed and anger boiling in his stomach.

Shiro lifted his hands in apology. “I… forgot to tell you. Or more like I thought I had already told you. Keith, I’m so…-” “Don’t say it! Save it! Shove your sorry up your pretty ass!”

Fuming, he grabbed the tree and threw it at the floor. The orbs shattered, the lights fell off and the tree lost some green. Shiro stared at the tree, his expression torn between crestfallen, guilty and angry.

“When were you going to tell me? What did we do all this bullshit for? The cookies, the tree, everything – just so you wouldn’t be there on Christmas? I thought we were going to spend it together!”

“My family traditionally spends it together. I want you would come with me Keith, meet my parents” Shiro explained looking hopeful.

Keith’s eyes widened and after a fraction of a minute he shook his head.

“I can’t do that.”

Shiro stilled at that. “Keith… they’ll accept you, you don’t have to worry.”

“And if they don’t? I can’t do that Shiro. No. I love you but no” he whispered and fled the room before Shiro could stop him.

  
**Day 19-21: Monday till Wednesday**

Keith had locked himself into his room. The holidays had started early because the finals were over and Matt had already left to spend Christmas with his family. After all, it was his father who was the lead professor for the Kerberos mission and they wouldn’t be able to celebrate next year.

Meanwhile he ignored Shiro’s desperate knocking, calls and pleas. He was too hurt, and too angry at himself for being so damned selfish. Shiro had a loving family. They deserved to see him. It wasn’t Shiro’s fault that Keith was a fucking orphan. He had no right to force Shiro to stay because he would be miserable. They both would be. He just wasn’t ready to admit that to Shiro. Until then he was hurting them both, hurting their relationship that had never faced such a crisis since they’d been together.

  
**Day 22: Thursday**

At exactly nine in the morning he received an email, confirming that he passed all his exams, even acing most of them as the best. He was already on the door, ready to run to Shiro to tell him all about it when he suddenly remembered their (his) fight and paused.

This couldn’t go on. He missed Shiro. He missed him next to him in the warm bed, he missed his smell, his laugh, his love.

He opened his door just when a loud thud was to be heard. Suddenly all that Keith saw was green. A Christmas tree. It was decorated and stood in front of his door block the day. It presented itself like the most exquisite bouquet.

“What the…”, he murmured to himself when he heard movement behind the tree.

“Shiro?” The movement stilled and Keith carefully pushed the tree aside.

Shiro stood there, silent, looking tired and older. He mirrored Keith’s exhaustion and Keith couldn’t remember ever feeling so guilty. His temper had hurt them both so much. He moved forwards and carefully took Shiro’s hands.

“I’m so sorry for not telling you sooner…”, the elder man whispered before Keith had a chance to apologize for being a jerk.

“I’m the one apologizing here, I was being an ass”, Keith said loudly.

Shiro huffed a little laugh.

“Are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good”, he confirmed and kissed Shiro’s hands. Afterwards, he pulled both him and the tree into his small room and slept lying on Shiro’s warm body.

Their love didn’t need words. They didn’t need words to replay their feelings. That’s their love worked. They knew each other well enough. Still, both were relieved that their fight was over.

  
**Day 23: Friday**

Shiro left on Friday. He gave Keith a parting kiss and got on the train. Keith weakly waved and watched him go.

The rest of the day was not worth mentioning.  


  


**Day 24: Christmas**

Keith’s hands quivered. He placed the wrapped presents under the Christmas tree. He had set it up at night. Shiro would see it when he returns next week. Keith was determined to let it stand until then. He looked at the presents that had slowly accumulated and sighed.

Frustrated, he sat next to the window, staring outside and eating their baked cookies. He sipped a cup of hot cocoa. He had made two cups out of habit. This wasn’t how this Christmas was supposed to go. Keith had looked it up, in Japan the twenty-fourth, dubbed Christmas eve, was the couples day. The family would usually meet on the 25th and even then, it wasn’t as important as new year’s.

But Shiro wouldn’t be there for either of them. He said he’d return on the third January. Awesome.

Keith felt himself drowning in pity and sniffed quietly.

  
A knock disturbed his silence.

“Merry Christmas, but now go away whoever it is” he angrily shouted but the knocking continued. It increased both in intensity and frequency.

Keith growled and put his cup down when the knocking had become a hammering. With a scowl, he opened the door, ready to fistfight whoever was disrupting him. His curse died on his tongue when Shiro stood in front of him, a hunched and small, but happy to see him.

“Merry Christmas Keith! …? Are you alright?” he immediately questioned when Keith didn’t move. His eyebrows knotted in concern when he realized that Keith’s eyes were wet.

“oh Keith…” he whispered and pulled him into his arms.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left. It’s unfair for me to see my family. Well, only half of my family since you’re my other half. And I saw them the past decade every Christmas. And you… well haven’t. They can bear to miss out on one Christmas. I’d rather spend it with you anyway. And now I can give you my presents too and don’t have to wait until my official return” he beamed and ever so gentle kissed his forehead.

Keith jumped and stared at him.

“You’re here…” he whispered as if woken up from a stupor that had clouded his senses.

“Yes. And I won’t leave.” Shiro pulled him in for another hug, his glance moving towards the tree where he discovered his presents.

 **~**  
“KEITH! What the hell! It must have cost a fortune! Return it right this instant! You need the money!”, Shiro shouted happily when he had unwrapped an X-Box V and the game of his latest dreams; Overwatch.

Keith laughed. “No way, presents are a no-return policy. Besides, you love it. And that’s worth it. You’re always checking twitter for new McHanzo art, telling me about the detailed graphics and great gameplay; I figured you or both of us will have something to do when its Sunday and we’re bored to death.”

Shiro blushed, feeling caught and he chuckled nervously.

Keith kissed his check.

“Anyway, I got one more gift for you.”

“Another one?”

“Don’t worry, this wasn’t expensive” he explained when he gave Shiro the little pouchy present. Shiro took it, looking at it strangely before unwrapping it.

When he took the star necklace and held it in front of his face he laughed.

“What is it?” Keith asked, bewildered.

Instead of answering, Shiro gave him a similar pouch and the realization dawned. When he unwrapped it, he held the very same star necklace made from the same material in his hands. Laughter bubbled past his lips as Keith put his necklace on.

“I love it.” “So do I.”

Shiro grabbed behind him and produced a second present. It felt soft and squishy.

“What is that?”

“Open it and see for yourself.”

Curiosity piqued, he tore the wrapping open and found a red and white bomber jacket. He stared at it and pulled it out of the wrapping. “This is so cool…” he whispered in wonder.

Shiro grinned.

“I knew you’d love it.”

“You bet I do, as much as I love you.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's me hoping that you and everyone else enjoyed the drabbles.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New year’s extra because of my tardiness:

  
**31.12. Saturday**

It was ten minutes before midnight and both were sprawled on the roof. They had made a picnic there, a thick blanket on the floor, two cups of hot cocoa. The free hand entwined with each other’s for comfort. Both were star gazing, smiling and feeling equally content and complete. Clouds were slowly coming up, but for now the sky above them was still visible.

“Hey Shiro?”

“mh?”

“Say my name as loud as you can.”

Shiro tilted his head until he looked and him. Only the starlight illuminated Keith’s face and Shiro squinted.

“Why?”

  
**_-Two days prior-_ **

“KEITH”, shouted Shiro and banged the door to Keith’s dorm room. Keith startled out of his bed. Yawning loudly, he went to open the door. A side-glance at the clock told him that it was seven-thirty. They had planned to meet in five hours for lunch. He had planned to sleep for at least four more.

“Do you even know what-“, he started scolding but was interrupted when Shiro suddenly entered, hugging him tight.

“I’m chosen to be the pilot for the Kerberos mission!!”

Keith’s eyes widened in realization.

“You’re WHAT… about damn time they recognized your skills!”

Keith placed his arms around Shiro and hugged him. It came to him that the Kerberos Mission was set to take around one year. That meant that all his Christmas efforts this year had been totally worth it. Next year they wouldn’t spend it together. Shiro would be far away, out of his reach. But he couldn’t, shouldn’t, be upset about that. After all, Shiro was fulfilling his dream. Keith would just need to kick it up a notch and chase after him. They would eventually fly together, he was sure of it.

**_-Back to present-_ **  


“I want you to say my name before you go. I want to make sure you won’t forget it. I want to be a part of your story. Say my name and miss me. Miss me damn hard so you’ll return both safe and as fast as possible”, Keith whispered, gently pulling both their necklaces together and turned to gaze into Shiro’s eyes.

Shiro’s eyes widened and Keith could see the wave of emotions ripple through the older man. Sadness, happiness, adoration, excitement and love.

The now clouded sky decided to open up and have little crystals of snow fall upon the two of them. Glittering small flakes of ice landed on Keith’s hair and Shiro couldn’t help but chuckle. He set his cup aside, tightened his grip on Keith’s hand and tucked a lose strand of hair behind his lover’s ear.

“Keith…. Keith. I would never forget you or forget us and our future and our past. You’ve been the best part of my history for a long time already. I’m not going to let you go. You are a great pilot and will be even better than me in time…”

“Say it, please. It’s important to me”, the smaller man whispered and looked at Shiro expectantly.

He gave in and took a deep breath.

“KEITH KOGANE!!”, he shouted as loud as he could, both startling when the clock hit midnight and the world around them exploded into fireworks and Garrisonstyle celebrations.

Bursting into a laugh, Keith leaned into Shiro and pulled him into a deep kiss. It would be lonely without him. But for now, they still had each other and would spend every possible minute together.  
Cherishing what they have. Loving each other and strengthening their bond. Eating horrible take-away noodles and watching anime.


End file.
